SAN FRANCISCO, April 13, 2012 — The former Massachusetts governor argued his case several days before the GOP primary in Wisconsin as he courted the working-class voters who make up the bulk of the electorate. Associated Press
Mitt Romney’s campaign to prove that he is indeed a man of the people has forged ahead in recent weeks with several blue-collar moments that the media has probably overlooked:
March 3: Mitt donates his $500 Calvin Klein pleated blue jeans to Goodwill and buys a pair of faded, pre-stressed 122-year old Levi’s with a patch on one knee valued at $4,750.
March 8: Mitt, on the way out of a $10,000-a-plate fundraiser in Milwaukee, buys a hot dog from a street vender, takes a bite and hands half of it to a homeless man.
March 11: Mitt attends a tractor pull in Peoria, Illinois, and, in an effort to bond with farmers, impulsively buys two tractors for his wife during a visit to the Caterpillar plant.
March 12: In San Francisco, speaking out on gay marriage, Mitt says that if two people love each other, no matter what their sexual preference, they should have the right to move to a state that allows it.
March 14: At a New York Yankees game, Mitt moves from a luxury box in the seventh inning to a second-row box seat behinds first base, where he treats the entire section to Chardonnay and duck pate.
March 16: During a speech to the Fargo, N.D., NAACP, Mitt notes that his junior high school gym teacher was an African-American “and a darn fine guy as well.”
March 19: Via video, Mitt views a small Texas town destroyed by a tornado and tells the mayor that his heart goes out to everyone “both with and without health insurance,” and says he feels certain that the tornado will boost the local economy when new homes are built.
March 22: At a meet-and greet in Duluth, Minnesota, Mitt reveals his support for the first Unplanned Parenthood office, where he speaks out in favor of children of all races, creeds, colors and genders. “In fact,” he says, “my youngest kid knows a Jewish boy, and everyone gets along just fine.”
March 31: Touring a hospital for indigents in Detroit, Mitt has his driver stop the limo so he can lean out the window and discuss national health care with one of the patients in a wheelchair. Mitt reports, “Hey, we didn’t agree on everything but that’s what America is all about!”
April 2: At a tea party for gay Republicans, Mitt tells a moving story about a Democratic father of six who, at 53, came out of the closet as a transgender conservative.
April 10: Mitt goes to an animal shelter in New Hampshire, adopts an Irish setter, and motorcycles to Canada with the dog strapped in the seat behind him.
Gerald Nachman is the author of several humor and entertainment books, most recently Right Here on Our Stage Tonight!: Ed Sullivan’s America, Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s, and Raised on Radio about the golden age of radio. For years Nachman was a critic and syndicated columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Daily News.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
